The Final Day
by jg16395
Summary: The Master has been reborn...but those who once threatened to end the whole of Time are drawing their plans in the dark. Just who is Frederica Shepherd? And how does she fit into all this? The only clue the Doctor has to go on is a second prophecy; "She will return to stand with her Doctor..." A/N; I don't own Doctor Who or anything from it - that honour goes to the BBC. EoT Pt I.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**_It_**_ is said that in the final days of Planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams. In the west of the north of that world, the people did gather... and call upon an ancient pagan rite to banish the cold. Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot...because they must. They all forgot their nightmares of fire, and war, and insanity. They forgot...except for two...one, an old soldier who could never forget for the sake of a loved one...the other, an enigma girl who had memories that pertained to another..._

*DW*

**Wilfred** Mott was briefly plagued by the flashing vision of a truly crazed man and the sound of a penetratingly sinister laugh. Just for one moment, he saw, and he heard. But it quickly vanished, to be replaced by the sight and sound of the streets of London, bustling with Christmas shoppers eager to complete their errands in time for December 25th. The sound that dominated Wilf's ears was that of a brass band playing "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen," but the sight that had the attention of his eyes was a cathedral. For some unknown reason, he felt the need to have a look inside it.

Once he had stepped inside the cathedral, Wilf heard the sound of a choir performing their choral pieces. However, he eventually took notice of a red-headed woman, dressed in black with red pinstripes – _similar outfit to the Doctor,_ Wilf thought – who was staring at the tinted glass, her head tilted to one side. Wilf recognised her as Frederica Shepherd, one of Sylvia Noble's – his daughter – best friends and godmother to Donna, his granddaughter. Frederica – or Fred, as she preferred to be called – was something of an eccentric; she came across as a Science Geek/Fashion Queen combination – a combination not many people managed to achieve as masterfully as she did.

"Hello, Wilf," she stated quietly, as he approached her seating area.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, just as quietly. "I'm not really one for churches."

"Lucky chance guess, I s'pose," Fred replied evenly. "I was admiring the patterns in the tinted glass. There's one that looks like a '50s police box."

_A police box,_ thought Wilf curiously. _It looks like the Doctor's been out and about._ After some scrutinising searching, he noticed there was indeed a police box in the glass, hidden away in the bottom-right corner of the leftmost pane.

"It's called the Legend of the Blue Box," a voice said from behind both Wilf and Fred. "This was the site of a convent, in the 1300s. It is said that a mighty demon fell to Earth, and then followed the man in the Blue Box. The Sainted Physician, they called him. He smote the demon and disappeared."

The voice belonged to a woman, brunette, who looked a little older than Fred. Her face was impassive, but her eyes held a shadow of grief and sorrow.

"Bit of a coincidence," muttered Wilf thoughtfully.

"So there's no such thing as coincidence," replied the woman, with a smile. "Who knows? Perhaps he's coming back."

"That would make my Christmas," Wilf turned around to answer, only to find that she had vanished. With only Fred for company, he was lost in thought about the Doctor, and the terrible dreams he had been having, while Fred was focusing on visions of places she had never seen, let alone been to.


	2. Premonitions of Doom

Premonitions of Doom

**The** TARDIS materialised on the Ood-Sphere, a planet that the Doctor had once visited before, back when the Ood were still enslaved to the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire. He'd visited this planetary system three times so far, first when he'd been to the Sense-Sphere, home of the Sensorites, before he'd ever had a regeneration, with Ian, Barbara and Susan, his granddaughter. The second time was with Donna on the Ood-Sphere, when he'd released the Ood from their telepathic bondage, allowing them to sing.

The last time he'd been here, Ood Sigma had told him that his song would end soon. This was such a cryptic warning – so much so that he'd begun to fear that this regeneration could very well be the last. To top all of that off, he'd been given a foreboding prophecy; "He will knock four times." The Doctor hadn't settled for any explanation as of yet, because each was as unlikely as the next. However, there was one hope – he had also been told: "She will return to stand with her Doctor." These words sent the Doctor into thoughtful speculation as to who "she" could be.

Still, it was no use dwelling on fears and intuitions, thought the Doctor. The Ood wanted to speak with him, and he had delayed long enough. It was time to delve into the unknown again. It was time to face fears.

He stepped out of the TARDIS wearing sunglasses, a sunhat and a ring of pink flowers. A few yards away, he saw Ood Sigma, in his easily distinguishable navy blue outfit marked with an Σ on Sigma's right side, waiting impassively.

"Ah!" announced the Doctor brightly. "There you are. Sorry..."

He broke off into a ramble about several momentous events that he'd either witnessed or experienced, finally finishing with his supposed marriage to "Good Queen Bess."

"...I gotta tell you, her nickname is no longer..." he trailed off, closing the story with a cough. "Anyway. You summoned me. What do you want?"

Sigma lifted his translator, and there was disappointment in his voice when the Doctor heard what he said.

"You should not have delayed."

"Last time I was here, you said my song would end soon," replied the Doctor flatly. "And I'm in no hurry for that."

"You will come with me," stated Sigma, his voice carrying only the slightest ghost of a hint of urgency.

"Hold on," the Doctor said, remembering to use the feature on the TARDIS that he'd recently repaired. "Better lock the TARDIS." So saying, he turned to point his key at the police box, and with the appliance of a small amount of pressure on the key, the lock came on with the sound of the lock a car would use. "There," he demonstrated to Ood Sigma, "I locked it like a car...it's funny..." he trailed off. Sigma showed no sign of amusement, but if the motion of his head was anything to go by, he was getting impatient.

"Blimey, trying to make an Ood laugh," the Doctor muttered, eventually giving up and trailing after Sigma. "So how are you, Ood Sigma?"

Eventually, he caught sight of what could only be the Ood-City. He could definitely say that it was a contender for the replacement of the City of Exxilon as a wonder of the universe.

"Oh, that is wonderful," cried the Doctor. "Oh come on, it is!" he added, when he noticed that Sigma hadn't made any sign of acknowledgement. He decided to ask, "How long did it take you to achieve this?"

"One hundred years," replied Sigma impassionedly.

"Then we've got a problem," said the Doctor in inward shock. "Not just the city, but your ability to reach through time. Something's accelerating your species' evolution well beyond normal."

"And the mind of the Ood is troubled," Sigma put in.

"Why?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Every night, Doctor...every night, we have bad dreams," answered Sigma, the ghost of a plea for help in his voice.

Worry was now running rampant through the Doctor's hearts. None of this could be a coincidence now. _But then again,_ thought the Doctor, as he was led to the Chamber of the Ood Elders, _I learnt a long time ago that there was no such thing as coincidence._

*DW*

**"...It** is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning...too late...too late, _far_ too late," he heard an Elder chant as he approached the Council of Ood Elders. "He has come."

"Sit with the Elders," instructed Sigma, gesturing with a nod to the empty space in the circle. The Doctor did so.

"Right then," he said as he sat with a forced smile on his face. "Hello."

"You will join," chanted the Elders repeatedly, moving their hands to lock with those sitting on either side of each of them, the Doctor joining in. Almost immediately, he was shown a vision in his mind, a vision of a face, one he remembered all too well – the face of the Master! Startled, he broke contact.

"He comes to us," explained the Chief Elder, "every night. I believe all the peoples of the universe dream of him now, save one."

"But that man is dead!" exclaimed the Doctor in stark disbelief.

"There is more," continued the Chief Elder. "Join."

He did so. Straight away, he was bombarded with an image of a middle-aged woman with red hair, who had just woken up screaming, followed by an image of an old man with grey hair – Wilfred! Once again, he broke contact.

"That's Wilfred!" he cried out in a panic. "Is he alright? What about Donna?! Is she safe?!"

"You should not have delayed, Doctor," said the Elder, echoing the words Sigma used. With those words, contact was reinitiated, and the Doctor was shown more visions – one of a rich man and a woman who could only be his daughter ("I don't know who they are," the Doctor said to himself) and another of a woman who he recognised as Lucy Saxon, the Master's widow ("Perhaps the loneliest of all," described the Elder.) Finally, the Doctor was permitted to break the psychic link.

"We see so much, but understand little," supplied Ood Sigma, speaking for the first time since contact had first been initiated. "The girl in the cage – who is she?"

The Doctor tried to explain with words that it hadn't been Lucy's fault, but eventually decided the story could be better told with another psychic link. He therefore reinitiated contact.

"The Master took the name of Saxon, and became Prime Minister of Great Britain," began the Doctor. "He married a woman called Lucy, and he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth." The Elders were shown images of the US President's assassination and the Toclafane descending into the skies of the Earth as the Year That Never Was began. "I reversed what he'd done so that none of it ever happened, but Lucy Saxon remembered." They were all shown a vision of Lucy shooting the Master, followed by that of the Doctor weeping over his body and later cremating it. "I held him in my arms! I burned his body! The Master is DEAD!" shouted the Doctor.

"And yet, you did not see?" asked the Chief Elder. The Doctor was shown a vision of a ring falling from the Master's pyre and being picked up by an old woman. As she scooped the ring into her hand, the Master's maniacal laugh rang in the Doctor's eardrums, and he came to a terrifying realisation as he broke contact for the final time.

"Part of him survived," he whispered in horror. "I have to go!"

"But there is more, Doctor," continued the Chief, stopping him. "The Master is part of a greater design, and the fire-haired woman does not dream of him, for her nightmares are far worse."

"Why?"

"The Ood have gained this power to see through Time...because Time is bleeding. A shadow is looming over the Universe. Events of so long ago are taking place right now. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the Veil, and now threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past." By this point, all of the Elders' eyes had turned an angry red – when it came to the Ood, this was never a good sign.

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor, now well and truly fearing what was in store for him, and wondering just how horrifying the redhead woman's nightmares were.

"There is no mistaking these visions, Doctor," gasped the Chief in abject terror, his eyes still burning a livid scarlet. "The Darkness heralds only one thing."

The words that followed were chanted in unison by the entire Elder Council, and sent the Doctor's darkest, most dreadful imaginations of the approaching terrors wild, all but confirming his worst fears; "_The End of Time itself!_"

With those words, the Doctor raced back to the TARDIS, his speed bolstered by his Time Lord biology, his twin hearts beating at an incredible rate. _Not this again,_ he thought morbidly, remembering the last time he had to stop the End of the Universe from happening 100 trillion years ahead of its time. He hadn't been able to stop Davros and the New Dalek Empire without the help of his companions, especially Donna Noble (who, through a biological metacrisis, became the Doctor-Donna, effectively taking a Time Lord consciousness into her own brain, her own mind – this nearly killed her, and forced him to wipe every trace of the Doctor, the TARDIS, the worlds they visited together – all of it – from her mind), but some of the companions he once had in his current (10th) life (like Martha Jones) now had someone else, while others (like Sarah Jane Smith, whom he'd travelled with in his 3rd and 4th lives) he couldn't ask to go through universal danger again. _I can't put anyone else's life in danger this time,_ thought the Doctor. _This time, I must do this on my own._

He raced towards the TARDIS, unlocked it, started the dematerialisation process and set her plunging through the Time Vortex, back in time at full pelt to 21st Century Earth...


	3. The Master Reborn

The Master Reborn

**Lucy** Saxon's life was in ruins. Ever since Harry – _the Master_, she corrected herself, hatred poisoning her mind at the mention of that monster's self-proclaimed name – had entered it, her life was doomed to a one-way path of self-destruction, self-loss and self-loathing. The Master took her, in that infernal time machine – the TARDIS, he called it – to witness the culmination of the future of both Human evolution _and_ the Universe. What she had seen had shattered any outlook on life in the universe – for the Universe was in the final stages of heat death as a maelstrom of dark matter (as all the stars were no longer shining), and the Humans who dreamt of a Utopia to escape the end regressed into the psychopathic Toclafane, a name the Master chose as a poetic calling card in his plans against the Doctor, Humanity and the Universe of the present. In the end, the abuse Lucy suffered in her husband's reign of terror in the Year That Never Was got so bad, that once the paradox the Master created out of the Doctor's TARDIS was eradicated, she shot the Master in cold blood. Lucy kept her silence, so no-one would discover the truth behind the Master, and she had been locked away in Broadfell Prison as a murderer. But Lucy knew that this was not the last she would see of him. His disciples would come for her one day – and when they did...

As if on cue, the door to her prison cell was unlocked, and when the door swung open, she was greeted by the face of Miss Trefusis, a high-ranking member of a Coven that was loyal to the Master. As she was led out of her cell, and into the Atrium of Broadfell, she steeled herself. She was no longer the weak-willed woman the Master had once exploited the nightmares of, and later beaten on board the Valiant. She had nothing to lose. She would stop him and his loyal followers one way or the other. She was prepared, even for death. After discreetly passing a bottle containing the Potion of Death to her guard, Lucy Saxon walked to her fate...

*DW*

**"Greetings,** Mrs Saxon," rang a voice from the other side of the Atrium. This voice belonged to the Coven Leader, a woman considerably younger than Trefusis, but older than Lucy. "I'm your new Governor. I'm afraid the previous Governor met with something of an accident, which took quite some time to arrange." The Coven Leader's voice was casual and conversational, but for Lucy, her words betrayed her malice and her callous disregard for the life of another, a disregard Lucy herself had never truly felt, even when she had betrayed that old woman, who saw through the Master's charade, to her death at the hands of the Toclafane.

"You kept your silence well, Mrs Saxon," the Leader continued, oblivious to Lucy's train of thought, "with regards to your husband...your trial was held in secret, with no jury...so no-one knew who Harold Saxon was...where he came from...why you killed him." The last four words hinted at the woman's vicious cruelty, which was released in full force with her next words.

"Make her kneel!"

The words were spoken with such powerful command that the reaction of another member of the Coven was immediate; the Coven member forced Lucy onto her knees so strongly that they buckled from their impact onto the Atrium floor. The Leader stepped forward as if to prey on Lucy's fear, but Lucy would not give her that satisfaction.

"There are those of us who never lost faith," the Leader hissed, venom dripping from her hateful voice. "And in his wisdom, Harold Saxon prepared us for any event...he knew he might die, and so, he made us ready. Tonight Mrs Saxon...tonight, he returns...Miss Trefusis!"

At the sound of her name, Trefusis stepped forward and unveiled a ring – one which Lucy Saxon would recognise anywhere. For this ring belonged to the Master, and it bore the High Gallifreyan symbols of union, as Gallifrey was her husband's planet of birth. But Lucy knew it was more than that...as this was called the Receptacle in the Secret Books of Saxon.

After a long lapse of time, the ring was placed in the Coven's Chalice of Resurrection, which was placed on a miniature stone monolith at the centre of the Atrium. This was then followed by the addition of colourful liquids Lucy recognised as the Potions of Life, as described in the Secret Books of Saxon.

"As it was written, in the Secret Books of Saxon," the Leader explained unnecessarily, for Lucy already knew what they were, "these are the Potions of Life."

Fear had been holding Lucy back for much of the encounter, but she finally worked up the courage to speak.

"Listen to me!" pleaded Lucy in desperation. "Whatever he told you, you have no idea what you're doing-"

"Miss Trefusis!" the Leader cut Lucy off. "The Catalyst!"

At once, Trefusis proceeded towards Lucy, arm extended, a white cloth in her hand, which was applied to Lucy's lips. She struggled to break contact, but eventually, Trefusis did, evidently obtaining whatever she wanted.

"You were Harold Saxon's wife," explained the Leader. "You bore his imprint...that's all we needed...the final biometrical signature."

Lucy caught sight of the lip markings on the cloth, panic now threatening to overpower her.

"You can't bring him back, you can't!" she protested finally, before the Catalyst was dropped in the Chalice to join the Receptacle and the Potions of Life...

The contents of the Chalice ignited, with a billowing roar of hot wind filling the Atrium. The Resurrection of the Master had begun. At this, every Saxon Loyalist bowed down before the foreboding spectacle.

"I'M BEGGING YOU!" Lucy screamed. "STOP THIS NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

The Coven only ignored her.

"Now we give ourselves to him!" gasped the Leader, in awe of this spectacle that could be created only by the most powerful beings in all of history. The members of the Coven eventually began to collapse, as their life energy was leeched away into the Vortex of Resurrection.

Lucy could now see that they would not listen to her and stop their madness – she now felt true pity for them, they were now doomed.

"Don't you see?!" yelled Lucy. "He lied to you! His name isn't even Harold Saxon!"

"Oh, this was written also," cried the Leader in worship. "FOR HIS NAME...IS...THE MASTER!"

At the Leader's final words, in the Vortex materialised a man with short, dark brown hair, and Lucy recognised him as the Master, her ex-husband, with his eyes madder than ever before. His voice thundered throughout the Atrium as he bellowed, "NEVER DYING!" over and over again. His eyes eventually rested on his former wife, and he feigned the joy of reunion with a loved one, something he would know nothing of.

"Oh, Lucy...sweet Lucy Saxon," he cried in mock joy. "Did the widow's kiss bring me back to the waking world?"

"You're killing them!" Lucy cried in protest, trying one last time to reason with him, something she had learnt from the Doctor, the Master's greatest enemy. The two looked and behaved in so many similar ways that one could almost mistake them for non-identical twins, one good (the Doctor), and the other evil (the Master).

"Let them die," the Master replied with a shrug, _as if they mattered_, he thought contemptuously, _they had served all their purposes except for one – to be my new first blood._ "They're just the first," he continued," the whole stinking Human disgrace will fall into the pit!" He spat the last sentence of his rant with ill-disguised malice in his voice. Then they began again – the drums that had haunted his life since the age of 8 during his initiation into the Prydon Academy at the Untempered Schism.

"Can't you hear them, Lucy?" he asked, sincere for the first time since the confrontation began. "The drums, the drums? The never-ending drumbeat...louder than ever before..." he trailed off, finally returning to his malicious nature. "Oh, I have missed them!" he cried.

Lucy had decided by now that the Master would not listen, so she put her Plan B into action.

"But no-one knew you better than I did," she called up at him. "I knew you'd come back. And all this time, your disciples have prepared. But so have we!" So saying, she extended her hand to her guard, who handed her the bottle she'd had smuggled into Broadfell.

"What are you doing?" the Master demanded.

Lucy decided to tell him, since there was no way he could stop her now. She hadn't felt this powerful, this _free_, ever before in her life. She was ashamed to admit it to herself, but it felt rather good.

"The Secret Books of Saxon spoke of the Potions of Life," explained Lucy. "But I had the family and connections who could calculate the opposite."

With those words, feared flooded the Master's entire being. _She's going to cause the Resurrection to go haywire, the stupid, interfering ape!_ He thought viciously.

"DON'T YOU DARE, LUCY!" shouted the Master, in his most commanding voice. "I'M ORDERING YOU! YOU WILL OBEY ME!"

Lucy scoffed silently in her head. _Ordering? I obey no-one! You can't do anything to stop me now, darling! This is the end of the line for both of us!_

"TILL DEATH DO US PART, _HARRY!_" she yelled, spitting his fake name with the utmost hatred as if it were poison – and with those parting words, she threw the Potion of Death into the Vortex of Resurrection, leaving the Master time only for one last scream;

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

When the Death Potion impacted with the centre of the Vortex, the Chalice erupted into a blue, superhot inferno, which rushed towards Lucy and engulfed her...

Lucy Saxon's last thought was, _did I do you any good, Doctor? Is your life better or worse without the Master in it?_

And she knew no more.


	4. Good, Bad & Ugly Dreams

Good, Bad & Ugly Dreams

**Physics** Professor Frederica Shepherd was in the deepest thought possible on 21st Century Earth. She was 56 years old, but for some strange reason, fortune had decided to let her retain her essential beauty, as she looked radiant for 56 years of age. This puzzled Fred a great deal – for a number of women her generation tried their best to retain their good looks without much success, whereas she had done it without even trying. This however was the least of her problems. Fred's parents had died in a car accident when she was 19 years old, but there had been no report from the media of the time. When her friends first asked about what happened, she told them she couldn't remember the exact details, and they had not pressed further. But the strange part of it was that she had _no_ memories of hearing of the accident! Her friends, especially Sylvia Noble (née Mott), still accepted her into their circle of friendship at University – University being one of the memories she could say she had without a doubt.

Fred was also a Science Geek combined with some of the personality aspects of a Fashion Queen – this had bolstered, rather than impeded her popularity there. It had certainly endeared her to her friends, especially Sylvia – one moment, she could launch herself into the explanation of a law of physics (her study topic at University) or a radical scientific theory (laughing at herself straight afterwards – _It's great being bonkers,_ Fred thought with a chuckle), the next she could dovetail the topic of a conversation into fashion (a favourite subject of all of them, Fred often stating her belief that black suits with red pinstripes were cool, and her friends telling her that she made them cool). Eventually, Sylvia met and married a man called Geoffrey Noble, and had a daughter, Donna, to whom Fred was named godmother. Fred had never wanted children herself (partly related to the fact that she had never found the right man for her to spend the rest of her life with), but she loved Donna as her own.

For much of her life, the problems she had did not become an issue in how she lived it. But then came March 2006, when that alien ship crashed into Big Ben and landed in the Thames. It was then Fred heard a voice, one which sounded so much like her own, yet it definitely did not come from her mouth, but from a watch she was carrying, a source of comfort throughout her life. _It has begun,_ it said. What has, you might ask? Well, the Space Age began – and so did her dreams of a toothy-grinned, curly-haired man wearing a long coat, a 23ft multicoloured scarf and a hat, whilst carrying a bag of Jellybabies and standing outside a 1950s' police box. Nothing new happened when the Sycorax invaded later in the Christmas season of that year, but in 2007, with the Cybermen Invasion and the Battle of Canary Wharf, Fred's dreams went bad. They were soundless at this point, but they showed the curly-haired man, a robot dog and either a brunette or blonde woman in dangerous or problematic situations. Donna's Christmas wedding of that year was marred by the attack of Robot Santas, which was stopped by a man in a pinstriped suit called the Doctor. This changed the nature of the dreams somewhat, as they became about an intimate relationship between her and him – _Well, he was rather heroic,_ thought Fred absent-mindedly, her train of thought a lot more enthusiastic when she added, _and incredibly sexy._

Then she decided to attend the LazLabs party, in 2008, to bear witness to the Lazarus Experiment, where Biology Professor Richard Lazarus (a former colleague in the Scientific Breakthroughs Society at University – and a friend), using a Hypersonic Wave Manipulator, hacked into his genes and made his body younger. While Biology was never Fred's speciality, she had a strong feeling something had gone wrong. Time and again, she had tried to warn him, but Lazarus had refuted her words of caution, claiming that as a Professor of Physics, and not Biology, she could not comment. She was later proven right, as Lazarus began mutating into an anthro-arachnoid form which drained the life of its victims. Then the Doctor showed up again, and managed to stop Lazarus from killing everyone present at the party. After that, her dreams became more frequent. This event was followed by Election Day. Fred didn't know why, but something about Harold Saxon gave her the creeps. He seemed almost like an evil twin to the Doctor; their hair was the same colour, their eyes were the same colour, and she'd hazard a guess that they had similar styles of humour, but something about Saxon seemed a bit more...twisted, demonic. Fred was willing to bet that Saxon wasn't even his real name, but a pseudonym to conceal something far more sinister. The voice in her head, silent for so long until now, just screamed; _He's evil! Don't vote for him!_ So she didn't. She abstained, because no-one seemed good enough to run the country, and Fred always had apathy for politicians. "Rotten to the core and never giving simple answers to straight questions, the lot of them," she'd often said, and apart from her opinion of Saxon, her friends agreed with her.

On Christmas Day of that year, a replica of the _Titanic_ almost crashed into Buckingham Palace. Thankfully, the impact was averted, and everyone in Britain laughed it off, while Fred privately thought that the Doctor had stopped the _Titanic_ from crashing. _Well done, Doctor,_ she thought. _Merry Christmas, Handsome Man!_ The year following (2009) was littered with events that were probably extraterrestrial in nature, like the Adipose Industries fiasco and the ATMOS pollution cataclysm, but those paled in comparison to the Earth being moved and attacked by the Daleks. _Not these bastards again,_ groaned the voice. Then and there, it became clear that her life was connected to the Doctor's somehow, for the nightmares returned for the first time in 2 years, more terrible than ever before, for they were now about fire, war and insanity, of Daleks wiping out all life before them, of wise old men going mad and the obliteration of entire worlds greater and more majestic than this Earth could ever hope to be. Now, when she woke up, she woke up screaming. She was now sure that her nightmares were not merely nightmares, but memories. _But memories of whom?_ Fred thought. To make matters worse, everyone else was now having bad dreams that they couldn't remember, everyone except Donna, as Wilf told her that something happened to her whilst she was travelling with the Doctor. _Where are you, Doctor?! We need you! I need you!_

Fred was shaken from this train of thought by Wilf's voice. He was busy explaining what to look for when looking for the Doctor, and Fred had been asked to join in on the search, as Wilf (the only one she trusted with this) knew that she had drawn some pictures of her dreams, which seemed to be coming to life these past 3 years.

"...and on page 2, be on the lookout for a police box, exactly like the old ones," he explained.

"I got locked up in one of those," commented Minnie Hooper, another comrade on Operation: Silver Cloak, the codename given to the search for the Doctor.

"Were you misbehaving, Minnie?" asked Winston wryly.

"I certainly was, whah-hay," she replied mischievously.

Fred rolled her eyes – _this was the reason she was called "Minnie the Menace,"_ she thought.

"Now listen carefully," continued Wilf, "'cause this is important, we have _got_ to find him."

_Too true,_ Fred thought morosely.

"Who is he, then?" asked Winston. "Who is this Doctor?"

Wilf paused before answering.

"I can't tell you that, sorry," he said. "I promised. But tell me this, all of you. Have you been having these dreams that you can't remember?" he asked. "Well that's why we need him," he continued, when none of them answered him. "We _need_ the Doctor...now more than ever."


	5. Dinner Time!

Dinner Time!

**The** Master was, once again, stuck between a rock and a hard place. His resurrection had gone disastrously wrong and taken the whole of Broadfell Prison with it – building, Loyalists, Lucy, everything, while he had been reduced to a crumpled, undead form, with a ravenous hunger and the ability to manipulate and burn his life force to perform incredible feats that even a full-fat Time Lord couldn't do, like fire energy bolts from his hands and leap great distances. But his lifeblood burnt up even when he wasn't performing these crazy stunts – to replenish it, he needed any energy he could absorb, even if that only translated as food, which wouldn't sustain him very long. The closest the Master ever came to this before was in the 13th and final life of his original body, and later in the body of that San Franciscan paramedic, Bruce. At the end of his first regeneration cycle, he got desperate enough to try and destroy Gallifrey by gaining access to the Eye of Harmony – the origin of all the power of the Time Lords – and then he tried to dominate the Source – the bioelectronics network that bound the Traken Union together – in an effort to secure a new body, claiming a bittersweet success in the latter endeavour by absorbing the body of Consul Tremas, a former nominate for the title of Keeper of Traken and the father of Nyssa, a companion of the 4th and 5th incarnations of the Doctor. In the Skirmish of San Francisco, he tried to secure the Doctor's remaining regenerations, only to fall into the TARDIS's link to the Eye of Harmony and end up imprisoned inside the Eye itself – forever.

But he had been resurrected behind the back of Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar by the High Council of Time Lords in order to fight in the Time War and to guard the Cruciform, which the early Time Lords had used to influenced the development of humanoid life and could also be used to destroy life, one of the reasons why that loathsome Dalek Emperor wanted it so badly. But he ran. Because he had not the courage to fight to his death. The Master had come close to death before – he had no intention of going anywhere near it again. He ran to the End of the Universe, and made himself Human, so neither Time Lord nor Dalek would find him.

But then, 17 years later, the Doctor, St. Martha and the Freak Jacky-boy landed in the year 100 Trillion on Malcassairo, as his Human persona, Professor Yana, sent the last of Humanity to Utopia, only for the memories of his Time Lord life to rise again and resurrect him from his slumber in the Fob Watch. The Master stole the Doctor's TARDIS, took it back to 21st Century Earth, and over the course of 18 months established a base for the rise of a new Time Lord Empire, only for all of it to come crashing down in the Year That Never Was and get shot by his Human wife, Lucy. But he had planned beforehand for his possible death, and founded the Coven of Saxon, who were loyal only to him, and enable him to return to the world of the living. But Lucy had interfered with the Resurrection, and here he was, wandering through the Wastelands and preying on what he could to survive.

As he approached a hot dog stand, he caught some of the conversation between the two customers and the vendor.

"...tomorrow's broadcast," she was saying. "President Obama's promised to end the recession."

_A recession?_ He thought. _I must be behind the times._ He shook himself out of this train of thought and entered another. _More, need more energy, need more food,_ he thought with growing ravenousness.

"Merry Christmas!" the Vendor called out to the exiting customers, before turning her attention to the Master. "Now, what can we get you, sir?"

He paused for dramatic effect.

"Everything," he stated, ghostly traces of lost power oozing from his voice. "I am _so_ hungry," he added in a guttural tone, before bursting into mad laughter...

*DW*

**"...he's** gonna save the world with some sort of financial scheme," explained the older Human, who added, "well, wha'ever it is, I'll bet it won' reach you 'n' me."

_The stupid, ignorant ape,_ the Master scoffed, _he really has no idea how true those words are._ He marched to a nearby cushion-topped, burnt-out brazier and took a seat so imperiously that the sound of him doing so rattled throughout the Wastelands. This drew the attention of the Humans, who turned to face him.

"Someone's lively on his feet," commented the older one, taken by surprise.

The Master dug into his burger at once. "I'm starving!" he said with emphasis on the word, before gorging on the blood meal at impossible speed.

"Now that's wha' ya don' wanna do – eat it all at once," said the older Human, who then turned to the Master and added (_unnecessarily,_ thought the Master contemptuously), "tempting, I know. But if ya make it last, it can last all day!"

"More," the Master growled, "more...cheese and chips...meat and gravy...cream and beer...and beef and pork and fat and great big chunks of hot, wet red!" The last part was spoken at inhuman speed – so much so that it evidently alarmed the older Human, who then seem to decide that it was time to leave. However...

"You look like tha' bloke," interjected the younger Human curiously, a smile on his face. "Harol' Saxon, the one that wen' mad."

_He's nailed it, dead on target,_ thought the Master, on whose face now crept a wide grin as he began laughing.

"Now isn't that funny?" he asked the Human, who nodded, the grin still on his face. "Isn't that just the _best_ thing ever? The _Master_ of Disguise," he added, hidden emphasis on his chosen name, "stuck looking like the old Prime Minister? I can't hide anywhere..." he trailed off, his tone becoming a hushed whisper of seriousness. "He can see me...he can smell me... can't let him smell me...need to stop the smell – stop the smell – stop the stink, the filthy...filthy stink!" He began wiping his mouth with such force that scared both of the stunted apes, who took this display as a sign to leave quickly. But the Master wasn't going to let them get away...

"Because it's FUNNY!" he continued. "Don't you see? _Look at me!_" the Master spat, life energy surging through his dying body and illuminating him from within. "I am splitting my sides! I am hilarious! I am...the funniest thing...in the _whole wide world!_" His voice rose to a snarl with the last three words, insane, ill-disguised malevolence rising like bile with it. The Humans ran for their lives at this – _that won't do them any good,_ he thought – but after a while, they stopped and gazed in horror at the remains of his previous victims – the Vendors. He knew that this was his cue.

"DINNER TIIIMMMEEE!" bellowed the Master, the sound echoing throughout the Wastelands. He poised his body into a crouching position and leapt a great height, descending upon his screaming victims with a predatory roar as he prepared to prey on their life forces...


	6. Frederica Shepherd

Professor Frederica Shepherd

**The** Doctor knew he was here...he could smell him. But these Wastelands were a large and desolate place...and an excellent hunting ground for people with a vicious predatory nature. This place was far away from any major Human settlement, but it could be hours before he found anything...and the Master had vicious predatory tendencies right now...the Doctor could sense that his Resurrection had gone wrong and left him with a ravenous hunger, which the Master would need to satiate before he completely burnt his life force out. _Enough,_ thought the Doctor, _no more games, Master. This has gone far beyond just you and me anymore. Something is returning..._

The Doctor was knocked out of this train of thought by the sound of four loud, metallic bangs. BANG – BANG – BANG – BANG! _Maybe it's just happenstance,_ he thought dismissively. _Maybe it doesn't mean anything..._the bangs sounded again (BANG – BANG – BANG – BANG!), this time with a tangible sequence..._or maybe it does._

He rushed in the direction of the noise at what felt like breakneck speed, when – (BANG – BANG – BANG – BANG!) – They rang out again. The Doctor quickened his pace and, almost in anticipation (BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!), the bangs did as well. Now he was certain who it was – it was the Master, ringing out the drumbeat, the call to war, the warrior's march, in challenge.

And sure enough, he caught sight of him, standing atop a gravel mound. The Master released a roar of challenge which would paralyse a human with fear, then leapt an impossible height into the distance, the Doctor hot on his trail. _I've got to help him,_ he thought desperately. _It may be the only way I can reason with him..._

*DW*

**Eventually,** the chase was concluded, the race run, finally ending with a pile of scrap between the Doctor and the Master. The Doctor caught sight of the Master's skeleton being illuminated from within by his life force energy – _sort of like Skeletor,_ he thought briefly, before dismissing the thought – and took the chance to reason with him.

"Please, let me help!" called the Doctor in a pleading tone, only for the Master to pull a sneering face, the message conveyed perfectly clear – _is that really the best you can do, Doctor? I'm not helping you._ "You're burning up your own life force!"

Again, the Master ignored him. _Idiot,_ thought the Doctor, as the Master leapt over a far pile of junk and set off, once again, into the Wastelands. As the Doctor tried to follow him, he passed Wilfred Mott, the grandfather of his friend Donna, accompanied by an entourage of similarly aged people. As he tried to get past Wilf, he lost sight of the Master, who was probably much deeper inside the Wastelands by now. _Damn,_ he thought savagely, turning to the group of old men and women. It took him a while to notice, but notice he did that one of the crowd was nowhere near the apparent physical age of the others – in fact, she hadn't even begun to go grey, her long mane of hair a fiery red. The Doctor recognised her as the woman he was shown in the Ood's visions of prophecy.

Eventually, his mind drifted back to the conversation being currently held, and a foreboding thought occurred to him – _could Wilf have told them about me? I told him how dangerous that was, especially with Donna's situation!_

"Have you told about me? You promised you wouldn't!" the Doctor demanded accusingly of Wilf.

"N-no, I only said you were a Doctor, that's all," he staggeringly replied, his voice becoming reverent when he added, "but, might I say, sir, it is an honour," rounding off the sentence with a salute, which the Doctor returned hesitantly.

"Oh, but you never said he was a looker!" cried one of the older women, stepping forward. "The name's Minnie, dear – Minnie the Menace. It's been a long time since I've had a photo with a handsome man."

"I'm – actually a – little bit busy –" the Doctor tried to interrupt, but Minnie cut him off. "Oh, it won't take a minute, dear."

*DW*

**It** didn't take a minute – it took _more_ than a minute, and some embarrassment. While this was all happening, the Doctor noticed a frown coming from the red-haired woman – something that looked like a faint ghost of envy. _But who is she?_ Thought the Doctor. _I've never met her before in my life._ But even as he thought this, a vision of a much happier moment in his life came into his mind – that of a moment shared between his 4th self and the 2nd incarnation of Romana, a former lover, watching the local sunset in Paris, her favourite vacation spot in the whole wide Universe. Then he was taken out of this thought as the bus stopped at a crossroads and allowed him, Wilf and the redhead to exit. _Where did that thought come from?_ Thought the Doctor nervously as Wilf lead them all to the nearby café.

Eventually, he decided to ask, "But we must have passed at least 15 cafés on the way here! What's so special about this place?"

Wilf gave a fairly lame excuse, but no matter. For the introductions occurred next.

"Right, Doctor," began Wilf, "this here woman's name is Professor Frederica Shepherd. Fred...well, I think you know who this is."

"Oh, yes," replied "Fred" evenly. "I still remember him from Donna's disastrous Christmas wedding. He ripped apart the entire sound system. Gave quite a number of people perforated eardrums!"

_Strange,_ thought the Doctor, _Romana once decided to let me call her "Fred" in her 1__st__ life, and now I meet a Human who has a feminine version of the name – Frederica. And then I find out she was at Donna's wedding!_ Taking a seat, he eventually decided to break the silence.

"Right," said the Doctor after a long pause. "So Fred, what's your specialist subject?"

"Physics," she replied with a smile, "specifically making a hobby of Temporal Mechanics – that's where it's most interesting."

"Oh, yes!" crowed the Doctor with enthusiasm, glad to meet a Human so interested in the workings of Time.

The conversation proved to be a great source of renewed vigour for the Doctor, as he became acquainted with Fred. She was a great person to talk to, whether about Physics or Fashion, the latter of which she bombshelled with her proclamation of the coolness of pinstripes on suits, at which the Doctor noted that she was wearing an outfit similar to his own – black with red pinstripes, a parody to his own brown with blue pinstripes. But somehow, The Doctor harboured a feeling that there was more to Frederica Shepherd than met the eye, especially since someone else had once worn a parody to the outfit of his 4th incarnation – that someone else being Romana, who sometimes went by the name "Fred" when she wouldn't allow him to call her "Romana." He could still remember that day on Ribos, on his mission to recover the Key to Time for the White Guardian.

_It's either Romana or Fred,_ his curly haired self had told her.

_Alright! Call me Fred!_ Romana's brunette 1st incarnation had replied enthusiastically.

The similarities scared the Doctor, and he truly didn't know what to make of it. To top all of that, there was the way Fred was looking at him – her eyes carried the smallest trace of desire, maybe love – but the Doctor knew that he couldn't reciprocate, even if he wanted to – the pain of watching a loved one wither and die would be too much to bear, especially after saying goodbye to Rose and losing Donna to the metacrisis – and even they'd paled in comparison to the pain of losing Romana on Gallifrey, in the final years of the Last Great Time War...Leela, both K-9s, Draco, Ella, the Infinite, the Eternal, the Knight and the Mage had died to keep her safe, to no avail...he'd screamed and pleaded with his Renegade Time Lord allies – K'anpo, Drax, the Corsair, the Queen, the Saint, Spandrell, Engin, Salyavin, Andred, Braxiatel (his older brother), Susan (his granddaughter), Flavia, Pandora, even the Rani – but they'd held him back, saying it was too late, that Rassilon would have her put through unbearable torture...

Whenever the Doctor thought of Rassilon, his blood boiled with hatred. Hatred for ruining Omega's life (for he now believed that Omega had been betrayed)...hatred for forcing him to destroy Gallifrey and all who lived there (especially the Time Tots, being little more than babies – he couldn't stand to watch children cry, and being forced to cause their untimely demise before they'd had a chance to live was no better than becoming a cowardly murderer)...and most of all, the most vicious hatred for forcing him to give up searching for his wonderful Romana, leaving him to feel as though the Doctor had killed her himself with the accursed Moment...he wasn't even sure if the Renegades _had_ gotten away from the cataclysm, leaving him unsure as to whether or not he'd succeeded in buying them time to escape execution by either Daleks or Time Lords.

He was snapped out of this by Fred steering the conversation to the topic Wilf wanted to talk about.

"Now then, Wilf, you had something you wanted to talk about – what was it?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I – I keep seeing things, Doctor," Wilf began, "in my head," he added, with a gesture to his head.

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor after a long pause – _what a strange question,_ thought Fred.

"What do you mean? I'm Wilfred Mott."

"No," continued the Doctor, "because some wait a hundred years to find me – and you two manage it in minutes."

"I guess we're just lucky?" wondered Fred.

"No – because Wilf and I, we keep on meeting, as if there's something still connecting us," the Doctor finished.

"Why, what have I done? What's so special about me?" asked Wilf suspiciously.

"Exactly – why you?" the Doctor replied evenly, indicating that he could not answer the question anymore than Wilf or Fred could. His next words brought a spine-tingling chill of foreboding to the conversation.

"I'm going to die."

Fred felt the panic threaten to engulf her. _Don't even think about it, Doctor!_ She screamed in her head – except that thought was also screamed by the voice in her head.

Wilf looked confused. "Well, so am I, one day," he replied uncertainly.

"Don't you dare," the Doctor said cuttingly, closing the subject.

"OK, I'll try not to," Wilf replied with a joke.

"And don't you dare either, Doctor," Fred cut in, half smiling, half frowning. "You've still got more than enough life in you."

The Doctor smiled at her, making her blush, followed by a thought from the voice in her head – _I wish he could do that toothy grin, I rather loved that one._ This made Fred wonder just how connected they were.

"But I was told..." the Doctor trailed off, "...I was shown a prophecy – 'He will knock four times...' – that was the prophecy."

"But I thought..." Wilf asked, "...your people...when they're dying, they could, like...change their whole body?"

"I can still die," the Doctor answered. "If I'm killed before regeneration then I'm dead. And even when I'm regenerating, it feels like I'm dying." He paused before explaining. "Everything I am dies...some new man goes sauntering away...and I'm dead."

*DW*

**_How_**_ does he live with this?_ Fred thought, feeling the words tug at her heartstrings. _How many times has he gone through this?_

_More than you know,_ answered the voice in her head, cutting out the voices of the Doctor and Wilf.

_That's strange,_ thought Fred. _You've never replied to my thoughts before._

_That's because I hoped the situation wouldn't get this bad,_ said the voice forebodingly, before expanding upon what she said. _It goes far beyond anything on Earth._

_What do you mean?_ Fred asked in anxiety.

_Remember when Harold Saxon came onto the scene?_ Her inner voice asked in turn.

_What about him?_ Fred wondered.

_His name wasn't Harold Saxon,_ replied her inner voice. _That was a public mask to conceal his identity from the Doctor while he laid out his plans to control the Universe. His actual name is the Master._

_Who's the Master, and how is he connected to the Doctor?_ Fred asked.

_The Master is a fiend who glories in chaos and destruction,_ replied the voice with disdain. _The current connection between the Doctor and him is comparable to that of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. Before that, they were best friends._

_WHAT?_ Fred cried.

_I know!_ The voice cried in equal shock. _Sometimes I find it hard to believe that someone as kind-hearted as the Doctor could be friends with someone as villainous as the Master._

_Do you think the Doctor can catch this self-proclaimed 'Master?'_ Fred asked.

_Not without help,_ answered the voice grimly. _The Doctor might be amazing, but sometimes he needs someone to get him out of the tight spots._

_Where can he get help from?_ Fred asked worriedly.

_You can give him help, if you want,_ replied the voice suggestively.

Fred considered this a moment before asking one final question: _Who are you?_

The voice's answer was thusly: _If you want to find out, ask the Doctor more about himself, then volunteer to help him, and DON'T take no for an answer._

With those words, the voices of the Doctor and Wilf returned to her auditory senses.

"Merry Christmas, Wilfred," the Doctor said in a hearty voice.

"Merry Christmas," replied Wilf weakly.

The party then exited the café, and was on the verge of dispersing completely, when Fred made her move and began to run after the Doctor.

"Doctor!" she called out as he was leaving for an alleyway.

"Yes?" he called back, stopping at the alleyway as he made to enter it.

"This man you're looking for-"

"The Master," he replied with a nod, yet somehow disconcerted that she knew about his hunt.

"Yeah, him," Fred acknowledged, coming to a stop and catching her breath. "How are you gonna find him?"

"I can sense him – Time Lords always can, and I'll know him when I see him," he said, before asking, "why do you ask?"

"Do you want some help?" asked Fred hopefully – everything about him made her want to scream, _TAKE ME WITH YOU!_


	7. Love, Loss & Explanations

Love, Loss & Explanations

**The** Doctor's perception of time froze as he assimilated Fred's offer. When his perception returned to normal, he was torn with internal debate between two voices in his mind.

_I can't take Fred's offer,_ reasoned one voice protectively. _I'd only be putting her in danger._

_How do you know?_ The other voice argued, more rational than the first. _You don't know too much about Fred – you can tell she's different from other Humans, so maybe she's more apt for this than anyone else._

_I can't take the risk!_ The protective voice shouted. _I won't put anyone else in danger!_ _I won't be able to protect her if she comes along!_

_Are you trying to protect her, or are you afraid to let anyone else in?_ The rational voice scorned. _Look at you – you're turning into who you were before you met Rose._

_I'M NOT!_ The protective voice roared. _I'M NOTHING LIKE THAT VERSION OF ME-_

_Oh, really?! 'Cause you're beginning to sound like him, Doctor!_ The rational voice shouted. _Don't you see? Fred would be good for you! You know she's only trying to help! But are you going to let her, or will you push her away?_

_I just – can't lose – anyone else,_ faltered the protective voice. _It's too painful to even contemplate._

_Do you remember the prophecy, though?_ The rational voice asked. _"She will return to stand with her Doctor...," hmm? Who do you suppose that could be? You get given this prophecy, and then Fred springs up? There's no such thing as coincidence, remember?_

_But who could it be?_ The protective voice pleaded. _She isn't anyone I recognise!_

_Then why don't you find out by allowing her along?_ The rational voice suggested. _ There could be more to her than meets the eye..._

"OK," he said after a long pause, smiling.

"Really? I can help?" asked Fred eagerly.

"Yes. But there are a couple of ground rules," warned the Doctor. "Rule one – don't do anything stupid. Rule two – stick close to me. Rule three – if you can do something helpful, do it. Rule four – trust me. There aren't anymore rules. Got that?"

"Perfectly," replied Fred. _Wow,_ thought her inner voice, _he changed the rules._

"Right," said the Doctor, setting off. "We're heading back to the Wastelands. If you have any questions, ask them as we walk."

"OK," acknowledged Fred, following him. "What do you do when you're not defeating monsters? And don't ask me how I know – I saw you defeat those Robot Santas and saw you at LazLabs leading Lazarus away from the party guests. Furthermore, I'm willing to bet you put a stop to the Battle of Canary Wharf in 2007, prevented the Master from rising to power in 2008 and defeated the Dalek Invasion of Earth earlier this year. So tell me, Doctor."

"Well," began the Doctor, "I'm a Time Lord, and I'm 906. I'm also a traveller who journeys in Space and Time. Sometimes I'm joined by people who want to experience the fun. To have fun's the intention, but it doesn't always go to plan. On those occasions, I try to sort out the problems caused by monsters – like the Daleks and the Cybermen – and villains, like Lazarus and the Master."

"Does it ever exact a steep price on your life?" asked Fred, wishing to know more about him.

The Doctor stopped, and paused before answering.

"Too many times to bear," he replied morosely, deciding to open up to her. "I've lost new friends, old friends, best friends, family, and even past lovers. Sometimes they're separated from me forever. Sometimes they leave. A few of them died." He stopped for a moment, thinking he had scared her, before continuing. "Are you sure you want to stick around with me now, Frederica Shepherd?"

"I'm not leaving, Doctor," she answered fiercely. "From the way it sounds, you've never managed to stay with constant company. That is, in the long term. I may not be able to promise to stay forever, but I will promise to stay for as long as I can." Fred then decided to try and heal him as best as she could. _Ask about his past lovers,_ suggested her inner voice.

"Tell me about your love life," she asked tentatively, in full listening mode.

The Doctor was taken aback. This he did not expect. But if he wanted to get better, he might need to open up and be honest.

"Well," began the Doctor hesitantly, "there was, at one time, a woman called Sarah Jane Smith, a journalist – she travelled with me in Space and Time in the TARDIS-"

"The what?" asked Fred bewildered.

"The TARDIS is the ship that allows me to travel through the Universe of Space-time," the Doctor explained. "Getting back to the original topic, Sarah Jane was brilliant, we had some amazing journeys together, and she began to fall in love with me – the reason I know that is because, after I had to leave her back on Earth, she never found anyone else; she was pining for me – but she moved on in the end; she had to find a life of her own."

"Continue," said Fred, waiting to hear more.

"After Sarah Jane, there was a Time Lady called Romanadvoratrelundar, Romana for short," the Doctor continued. "Now, at first, I resented her, because she had been forced to travel with me to find an artefact known as the Key to Time, which can control the balance of the forces of nature in the universe," he added at Fred's curious look, then continued to plough on with his story, "but during the course of that mission, given to us by the White Guardian – a force of balance and creation throughout the Cosmos – I began to grow attracted to her, especially after Romana's voluntary regeneration, where she chose to assume the appearance of another woman – Princess Astra of Atrios – much to my initial protest." He added with a chuckle.

"She was very good, then," Fred laughed.

"Oh, she was _wonderful,"_ the Doctor said in earnest, tears now beginning to build in his eyes. "We continued to travel for years in the TARDIS, but eventually, the Time Lords wanted her back on Gallifrey, our home planet. By that point, Romana didn't want to go back to a planet full of ancient, dusty politicians who had no interest in the affairs of others. She'd seen how it was out there, and so decided to stay behind in an alternate Universe called E-Space."

"I guess you can have that effect on people, Doctor," Fred said knowledgeably, before adding, "I think she used that as an excuse, if you know what I mean."

"Maybe," replied the Doctor, "but if she did, I'll never know now. Because sometime after she returned from E-Space, the Last Great Time War broke out, between the Time Lords and the Daleks, with no winners. The Daleks couldn't overcome the unfailing skill of the Renegades, but the Renegades were the sheepdogs among the sheep. The Time Lords got so desperate that they resurrected the founder of their stagnant society, Rassilon, about whom public opinion was divided, some claiming him a hero, others a tyrant. That was when things spiralled out of control – he became so desperate to ensure the survival of everything he'd caused to be created that he was willing to destroy the whole of Time itself. The Renegades, including myself and Romana, conspired to stop him, but Rassilon found out about Romana's affiliation with us, and ordered a raid, which ended with the Fanatics of Rassilon capturing her, after which she would have been put through horrible torture. What made it so much worse was the fact that Romana will never know how much I loved her – I told her that she was wonderful, but I never told her I loved her." The tears were now streaming down his cheeks, at which point Fred embraced him in a hug. Eventually, he mustered the strength to continue the story. "With that, I had to act fast – and I was left with no choice but to seal off the Time War and destroy Daleks and Time Lords alike, taking the whole of Gallifrey with them."

"Oh my God," gasped Fred in horror. "I dread to think how it feels, knowing that it was either your species or the entire Universe."

"Yeah," croaked the Doctor. "After that, I travelled alone for quite some time, until I met a Human girl called Rose Tyler. She helped me to get better, and after I regenerated into this body," he gestured to himself, "I began to fall in love with her. But we got separated by the Battle of Canary Wharf, when she became trapped in the parallel Universe that the Cybermen originated from. We were briefly reunited when the Daleks broke down the walls of the multiverse whilst trying to detonate the Reality Bomb, but as a by-product of the Battle of the Medusa Cascade – when Earth was moved across Space – another Doctor was created, and he destroyed the Daleks without a second thought. So I had to leave Rose with the other Doctor, the one that had the guts to tell her that he loved her."

"While you carry on, travelling alone in the TARDIS," Fred finished the sentence morosely. "Is that why I got the feeling that you were reluctant to accept help?"

"Yes," replied the Doctor, after a dramatic pause.

"Do you still want my help now?" asked Fred uncertainly.

"Yeah," answered the Doctor throatily, a ghostly smile returning to his face.

"Then allow me to lay down a ground rule of my own," said Fred firmly. "Rule five – don't give up the hope that you'll survive this. You've still got a life ahead of you, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," stated the Doctor. She could not be _any_ clearer than this.

"Now we've got a job to do, so let's go catch ourselves a Master!" Fred cried jokingly, before adding, "Merry Christmas!"

"Oh yes!" cried the Doctor, equally jokingly, before adding his punch line, "ALLONS-Y!"

*DW*

**_And_**_ so it came to pass that the players took their final positions on the chessboard, as night fell over that part of the world...a Madman, sitting in his empire of ashes and dust, little knowing of the glory he would achieve...while his saviour looked upon the wilderness in the hope of changing his inevitable fate...far away, the idiots and the fools dreamt of a brighter future – a future now doomed to never happen... at the heart of it all, the Old Soldier, too afraid ever to take the life of another, and a woman who had, for her whole life, unknowingly held in her pocket Time's most beloved Child...as dusk descended, the Human race slept...and shivered...somehow knowing that dawn would bring only one thing...the Final Day!_


	8. Meeting the Master

Meeting the Master

**By** the time Fred and the Doctor had reached the Wastelands, night had already fallen. _Great,_ thought Fred sarcastically, _there's absolutely_ _nothing better than a walk in a wilderness in which lurks a man-eating predator._

_Where's your sense of adventure?_ Her inner voice asked. _This is what the Doctor does._

_Is it always this scary?_ Fred asked the voice.

_A life with the Doctor can be scary, funny, wondrous, exciting, or sometimes all four at the same time,_ the voice replied – if it had a face Fred was sure it would be grinning.

_How do you know this?_ She asked.

_I can't tell you that, sorry,_ answered the voice.

_Why not?_ Fred demanded irritably.

_Because the more you know, the more you're at risk,_ snapped the voice, _and I can't risk having the Master know about me. The Doctor's limiting their telepathic connection just enough to stop the Master following his train of thought, but it will all be in vain if he plucks everything about our internal conference from your mind._

Fred paused before continuing.

_How are you even in my mind? I imagine most Humans don't have an inner voice like you,_ she reasoned.

_I'm not in your mind,_ the voice replied. _This is just a projection of my thoughts – but I've always been with you, because you've always carried me in your pocket._

Fred assimilated this new information, and joined the dots with the information about her life that she already had, making a startling realisation.

_You're in my pocket watch, aren't you?!_ She cried in amazement, before her amazement turned into anxiety. _But if the Master can pluck the info from my mind, then why are you telling me this?_

_Because the Master won't be able to open me,_ the voice supplied as a reason. _No-one can open it but you – however, it's better that you don't open me until this is over; in fact, it's best that you don't open your watch at all._

_Why not?_ Fred asked curiously.

_Because you'd become me,_ came the fading reply. _And you deserve a chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime, because that's what a life with the Doctor will be..._

*DW*

**_There_**_ he is,_ thought the Doctor, catching sight of the Master, who was crouched on a pile of dirt. He came to an abrupt halt as he considered the spectacle, Fred stopping just behind him. _How the mighty have fallen..._

Suddenly the Master sprang to his feet with inhuman flawlessness, sniffing. _He can smell me,_ the Doctor thought.

Fred studied what she had just witnessed. _That's incredible,_ she thought in shock. _No Human is capable of that...this must be him. Harold Saxon __**was**__ the Master. And, looking at both him and the Doctor..._

"Doctor," Fred whispered cautiously.

"Hmm?" he answered in acknowledgement.

"Something's strange about the Master," Fred continued to whisper. "Looking at both you and him...it's as if you and he are like twins. I've seen the Saxon broadcasts before, so I've seen his sense of humour, and he had a twisted version of _your_ sense of humour."

"Very astute of you, Frederica Shepherd," the Doctor replied with a wry smile. "That's what I thought when I met this version of him." He paused before the smile faded. "Anyway..."

"Yeah," said Fred, "back to the task at hand. What are you going to do?"

"I've got to try and reason with him," he answered simply.

Whatever Fred was expecting, it certainly wasn't that, if her expression of utter shock was anything to go by.

"But Doctor," protested Fred worriedly, "the Master might try and kill you!"

"No," he replied calmly, "he'd want to humiliate me first. It's how he's been hoping to destroy me ever since we became enemies a few hundred years ago."

"Somehow, that doesn't help one bit," Fred whisper-cried, tears forming in her eyes now. "And what if he decides to break with tradition? You yourself said that because he's dying, he can't afford to waste time."

"I've got to do this," stated the Doctor firmly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Do you know why?"

"Because you wouldn't be the Doctor any longer if you didn't," choked Fred, smiling weakly. "But at least let me help, then."

"I can't, not with this," said the Doctor, gritting his teeth at the thought of Fred at the mercy of the Master.

"But-" Fred argued, but the Doctor cut her off sharply.

"_No,_ Fred!" he spat, before adding, in a more polite way, "please?"

"OK," Fred gave in, "but be careful, you hear me? Don't do something stupid like die on me."

He nodded, before replying, "wouldn't dream of it."

Fred smiled, then grabbed him by his tie and kissed him – not a soft one, but a full-on snog, exploring his mouth while he explored hers. _By God,_ she cried in her mind, _he is brilliant! I feel as if I've died and gone to every heaven envisioned in the universe!_

After what felt like a whole universal lifespan, Fred and the Doctor broke off the kiss. Fred was gasping for breath, but the Doctor was breathing perfectly normally.

"How do you hold your breath like that?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

"Respiratory bypass," he replied with a stunned look, then asked in turn, "how did you get _that_ good at kissing?"

"No idea," she told him with a shrug. "Now go catch the Master."

The Doctor nodded, and then turned to where the Master was standing. His quarry turned to face him with an impassive stare, to which the Doctor responded by walking toward him.

At this, the Master extended his hands, glowing with his life force energy. He paused for a moment, as if to wonder whether the Doctor would flinch upon his upcoming attack – which came immediately afterwards. Skeleton illuminated, he threw forward his left hand, from which issued a bolt of explosive energy, as demonstrated by the effect it had when the bolt impacted the junk pile behind the Doctor.

The Master's warning attack garnered no reaction from the Doctor, so he followed through with another bolt of energy from his right hand, which also impacted the junk pile. This too failed to trigger a spasm of fear.

_Time to up the game,_ the Master thought evilly. He began rubbing both hands together vigorously, causing his life power to spark excitedly. While the Doctor approached him, the energy built up to the point where he could not sustain it anymore.

With another flash from his skeleton, the Master fired his super-bolt into the Doctor's chest, causing him to stagger in pain. But the Doctor continued to struggle and absolutely refused to back down, realising that his old enemy would have to break off the attack soon.

Evidently, this thought also occurred to the Master, and with one final illumination from his body, he stopped burning up his life force and snuffed out the lightning stream. With this, the Doctor collapsed from a combination of inertia and fatigue. At this, Fred rushed out to help him up, fully expecting to get zapped by the Master – yet no attack came. He just let her continue forward.

"Doctor?" she whispered fearfully. "Are you alright?"

He paused for a moment, finally nodding, calming her for the time being, only to find that the Master was approaching the both of them.

"Another one, eh Doctor?" he sneered malevolently. "A bit old for you, isn't she? You usually prefer the company of the young."

"Well you're one to talk, _Time Lord,"_ Fred retorted, bristling at the comment regarding her age. "I'd hazard a guess you're 900!"

_"Hush_ now, you stunted, insolent, flame-haired lump of ignorance!" the Master snarled. "I'm having a moment of nostalgia!" So saying, he crouched himself next to the Doctor, in the dirt. He paused before beginning his speech of fond memory.

"I had _estates,"_ he said simply. "My father's home stretched across Mount Perdition. We used to run over those fields of red grass, calling up at the sky." He smiled. This one was not like most of the smiles the Doctor had described to Fred, sneering, knowing, or malevolent – it bore the faintest ghost of, for a lack of a better phrase (_dare I say it?_ Fred thought), a happier time in the Master's life. But for that reason, Fred found it illuminating, for she realised that he had not always been an insane, murderous psychopath hell-bent on controlling the Universe. _Maybe he's suffered from an abusive school life,_ wondered Fred curiously. She was brought out of her trance by the Master's now-sarcastic voice. "Look at us now," he whispered, at which point the Doctor finally brought himself to speak.

"All that eloquence," he gasped observantly. "But how many...people have you killed?"

"I am _so_ hungry," the Master replied with both a shrug and an inclination of his head.

"Is that why you preyed on those chums who had nowhere else to go, _Master?"_ Fred sneered. "That desperate to survive, are you? You're just like Lazarus – a vain old man who can't face death!"

"Yet, _that's_ Human Christmas, out _there?!"_ he spat in reply. "They eat so much!" he exclaimed, not waiting for an answer. He then broke off into a rant. "All that _roasting_ meat...cakes and red wine...hot, fat blood food...baking pots and plates...meat and flesh...juice and grease...crispy, baking, burnt skin-"

"Stop it!" the Doctor interjected.

"-Slice, slice, stab, slice-"

_"Stop it!"_

"-It's _mine,_ it's _mine,_ and it's mine to eat and eat and _eat-"_

"STOP IT!" Fred and the Doctor shouted simultaneously.

"-and _eat_ and _eat_ and – Ah!" the Master broke off with a gasp of pain, clutching his head.

"I need your help with something," stated the Doctor, taking his chance.

"Oh yeah?" chuckled the Master humourlessly.

"I was told...'Something is returning...'"

_"And here I am,"_ the Master deadpanned.

"This goes beyond anything here on Earth, Master," Fred told him grimly. But her words didn't seem to register with him in the way she wanted, if his next words were anything to go by.

"Who are you, by the way?" he asked, deciding to indulge her for the moment.

"Professor Frederica Shepherd," she replied. "But _don't_ call me by my first name – only friends get to do that."

The Master grinned.

"Oh, she's a feisty one!" he cried exuberantly. "And she's a Professor, rather that a Medical Student! Good choice, Doctor!" His tone suddenly became serious. "But it hurts, Shepherd!" he groaned in pain.

"The Doctor was told-" Fred tried to tell him, but he only ignored her.

"It hurts."

"Please-" the Doctor tried to get a word in, but the Master continued to groan, this time more insistently.

"It _hurts,_ Doctor!" he cried pointing to his head. "The noise in my head... is louder than ever before! ONE – TWO – THREE – FOUR – ONE – TWO – THREE – FOUR – ONE – TWO – THREE – FOUR!" he spat, jabbing his right index finger into his head with each number. "Can't _you_ hear it, either of you?"

"I don't hear anything," said Fred flatly.

"Me neither," deadpanned the Doctor.

At this, the Master held out his hands. _A psychic conference?_ The Doctor wondered. _What will that reveal?_

"Just...listen," whispered the Master, taking both of their hands into his own and focusing on the drumbeat.

At once, the Doctor was completely gobsmacked. _It's actually there,_ he thought in total shock. _He wasn't lying...there __**is**__ something there...but...what?_

Fred's reaction, on the other hand, was not of shock or surprise, but of horror and fear. For she _did_ hear the drums...the same drums that plagued her nightmares of war and insanity. _How is this possible?_ She cried in her head. _What does the sound mean?_

Both Fred and the Doctor broke contact after a few more seconds, both recovering from the contact. When their senses came back into focus, the Master was staring at them intently.

"What?" he asked, before questioning in a more forceful tone, _"what?"_

"I heard it," replied the Doctor flatly.

"Me too," confirmed Fred. "And I've heard it before. It haunts me every night...the drums...the never-ending drumbeat which never fades...it's been part of my nightmares ever since the Medusa Cascade, Time Lords."

Both the Doctor and the Master stared – the Doctor in abject horror, the Master in awestruck fascination.

"What's she talking about, Doctor?" asked the evil Time Lord.

"While you were waiting to be revived, Earth was transported to the Medusa Cascade and attacked by the Daleks," he explained. The Doctor then shifted the conversation back to its original topic. "But getting back to that sound...there's nothing there; it's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?"

The Master simply burst into hysterical laughter.

"It's _real,"_ he gasped insanely. "It's _real. IT'S REEAALLL!"_ The last two words rose to a shout before he projected energy from his hands and rocketed off into the night sky. The Doctor quickly summoned his remaining strength and bolted after his target with Fred right behind him.

*DW*

**Their** pursuit of the Master came back to the most expansive area of the Wastelands. When the Doctor and Fred finally caught up with him, he was standing atop a pile of stone and gravel, grinning maniacally.

"All these years," called the Master loudly, "you thought I was _mad!"_ He gestured his arms to the surrounding area before adding, "King of the Wastelands! But something is calling me, Doctor! What is it? _What is it?!_ WHAT IS IT?!"

Almost instantaneously after his final three repeated words, a bright light shone down on him. Fred recognised the source of the light beam as a helicopter, but the Master either didn't notice it or chose to disregard it. After a moment or so, two more lights shone over the Doctor and Fred respectively.

The Master began to laugh insanely again, but was cut off when two soldiers restrained him and subsequently injected him with a sedative.

"No!" cried the Doctor, rushing forward to help his old friend –

"DOCTOR!" screamed Fred as cracks rang throughout the Wastelands at the sound of bullets leaving the rifles of other soldiers at supersonic speed.

Apparently the Doctor registered this too, as he was able to avoid getting hit and reach the top of the stone mound, but too late to stop the Master from being taken by the first two soldiers – a third soldier knocking him out from behind.

Fred waited for the soldiers to disappear, then ran to the Doctor's unconscious form and tried to wake him up.

"Doctor..." she began to ask, "are you alright?"

After a few moments, he stirred with a groan.

"Ow," he said in confirmation of his being awake. "Fred..."

"Doctor, the soldiers got away with the Master," Fred told him worriedly.

"Oh great," the Doctor muttered, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "We'd better get back to the TARDIS."

"But how are we gonna find him again?" Fred asked. "He could end up anywhere on Earth!"

"We'll just have to hope that we'll find another lead on him," he replied grimly.

So saying, the Doctor exited the Wastelands and headed back to the TARDIS hand-in-hand with Fred, unaware that the memories of another woman would be woken within the new companion he was growing to love...


	9. Christmas Love

Love on Christmas Morning 2009

**By** the time the pair reached the ageing Timeship, midnight had only just fallen over Britain. It was now Christmas Day, but that wasn't the most important thing on either Fred's or the Doctor's minds. They were locked in an embrace, sleeping in one of the TARDIS's bedrooms, Fred in nothing but nightdress and underwear, and the Doctor in pyjamas. For both of them, a few hours felt like an eternity.

But the Doctor was awoken from his slumber by moans of desperation from Fred's mouth. Immediately, he tried to wake her up, to no avail.

"Fred, wake up!" stated the Doctor firmly. "It's me! It's the Doctor! Fred!"

"N-no, please..." Fred sobbed brokenly with no sign of acknowledgement. "Please, Richard, don't do this...you don't know what you're doing..."

_Professor Lazarus,_ the Doctor thought savagely.

"Fred, it's the Doctor!" he repeated, this time shaking her. "Wake up!"

"No!" Fred cried in anguish, now beginning to struggle in her sleep. "No! Why, Richard, why did you have to build that infernal machine?!"

"FRED!" the Doctor shouted, shaking her more thoroughly. "WAKE UP!"

But Fred only began to struggle more violently until it became almost impossible to hold her.

"NO! NOT THE CHILDREN!" she screamed in horror, the sound of a plea coming into her voice. "PLEASE, NO! LET THEM LIVE! HAVE MERCY, I'M BEGGING YOU!"

Her nightmares had evidently taken a different tack, for they no longer sounded like they were about Lazarus, but about something far worse. The Doctor couldn't bear to hear Fred scream like this – he had to break her out of the prison of her mind. So he did the only thing he could – he cupped her face and unleashed the full force of the shadow that was the Oncoming Storm within him.

"FREDERICA SHEPHERD!" he roared. "YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW! PULL YOURSELF OUT OF YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

This did the trick. Fred stopped struggling and opened her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably as she looked up at him.

"Doctor..." she gasped between choking sobs.

"Ssshh," soothed the Doctor. "It's just a nightmare, Fred."

"But it wasn't," she insisted, tears still making tracks on her flushed cheeks.

"Why not, Fred?" he asked. "Perhaps it'll help if you tell me about it."

"OK," Fred gasped, sitting up before rolling into her explanation, "at first, the dream was about Richard – Professor Lazarus – sometime before the party where he-"

"-Demonstrated his Genetic Manipulation Device," the Doctor finished for her. "And you were trying to stop him?"

"I didn't want anything to happen to him," sobbed Fred. "I thought he was meddling with things he didn't understand – usually that's how the worst case scenarios happen. Even though he became a life-sucking monster, he was my friend." She paused before continuing. "Is it...wrong of me to feel compassion for him, Doctor?"

"Never!" cried the Doctor, at a loss as to why she would think this way. "Listen to me, Fred. _Lazarus_ was conducting a high-risk experiment on himself, and it turned him into a monster. _You_ were trying to stop him from destroying himself. Just because you did that doesn't automatically make you a monster."

"Thanks, Doctor," she replied weakly. "But that's not all. After the part with Richard's grave, the dream changed entirely...to the most nightmarish battlefield ever imaginable. And there were children on that battlefield, Doctor...surrounded by Daleks...I was screaming for the lives of the children to be spared, but they just killed them...they murdered them, Doctor! They murdered children!" Fred's voice rose to a hysterical cry, before she broke down sobbing again.

"Oh, Fred," the Doctor whispered as he soothed her, one hand in her long mane of ginger hair and the other around her back. After seemingly an eternity, Fred spoke again.

"Doctor, I...have a...confession to make, but before I do, I'd like to ask something," she said with a shudder.

"Well...there's no time like the present, Miss Shepherd," he replied, "given our current situation..." he added, gesturing to their compromising positions.

"Yeah, I see what you mean..." Fred trailed off before asking, "after what's happened over the course of your life, do you think you're still able to love?"

Like before, the Doctor had been taken unawares. But unlike before, he was a bit more hesitant.

"I don't know," he said simply. "It's just that I've had enough suffering for a number of lifetimes. Why do you ask?"

"Well..." replied Fred unsurely, "I think I've fallen in love."

"With whom, might I ask?" questioned the Doctor warily.

"Well...with you," she said hurriedly, breaking into shudders and blushing a furious shade of red.

The Doctor just stared, mouth hanging open. Fred then decided to throw in some playful banter.

"You might want to close your mouth – you'll catch flies," she joked.

"Right..."

"I'm sorry," Fred began to ramble, "it's just, at first, I saw you at Donna's botched wedding – you're very sexy by the way, just thought I'd tell you that now..." she trailed off – her last statement causing the Doctor to blush red – and continued to ramble.

*DW*

**"...so** I just wondered, am I allowed to love you, Doctor?" she asked finally. The Doctor heard a plea in her voice – as if she were hoping that he would let her love him.

_Can I love Fred?_ His protective voice wondered. _Can I really allow myself to open my hearts to her?_

_You __**did**__ fall in love with Rose at one point, Doctor,_ reminded his rational voice. _Perhaps you need this._

_But that was different,_ protested his protective voice. _And I'm still sore about having to leave her in that parallel Universe._

_How is it different?_ His rational voice asked. **_You_**_ chose to leave her on Parallel Earth, and you can't see her again – so I reckon it's time to move on and find someone else._

_I guess you're right,_ his protective voice sighed. _And I __**do**__ love Fred._

With the internal conversation over, the Doctor answered Fred's query.

"Yes," he replied with a smile, "because I love you too, Frederica Shepherd."

She cried out in joy and kissed him, her hands roaming his back. After a long time, she let herself breathe and changed track.

"Care for a bit of Christmas love-making?" Fred whispered in an effort to seduce him.

"S-sure...why the hell not?!" the Doctor stuttered sheepishly, before returning to kissing her.

It wasn't long before she started to peel off his pyjamas, leaving him only in his black boxer briefs – and he returned the favour by pulling off her nightdress, which left her in only her burgundy lingerie. Here they were, more exposed than ever, about to share their bodies and hearts with one another.

"Oh my..." the Doctor whispered reverently, his gaze devouring her body hungrily. "You...are...absolutely...beautiful, Frederica Shepherd!"

"Well you aren't too bad yourself, Handsome Man," she replied cheekily, eyeing his body with lust.

With those words, they peeled away the barriers that remained between them – the Doctor positioning himself above Fred's entrance – but then they hesitated.

"I've...never done this before," admitted Fred shyly. "I don't know if I'll be any good."

"Only one way to find out, I guess," the Doctor shrugged sheepishly. "Here goes..." With that, he entered her and buried himself in her sex.

Fred cried out. _Oh my God,_ she thought hurriedly in her mind. _He...is...amazing!_ She then began to moan loudly as he moved in and out of her body, and it was then that she was certain that there was nothing like this in the whole wide Universe. He began to moan with her as she arched her back to match his movements, creating between them a sense of being joined together.

Suddenly she felt him pinch her nipples and nibble her left earlobe, sparking ecstasy through her nervous system and causing her to cry out louder. Following afterwards, the Doctor decided to take the tip of her naked breasts into his mouth and suck, one nipple at a time, at which she squealed in pleasure. While all this was happening, Fred could feel her orgasm building deep inside her abdomen – it felt like a fire burning inside her, a fire that was rapidly becoming an inferno...

"Faster, Doctor," she cried in a mixture of pleasure and pain, after he had let her breasts go. "Faster...please..."

He obliged, and the friction between his chest and her nipples increased rapidly. _Here's to Time Lord stamina,_ she thought with an internal chuckle. The inferno of love in her belly was now building with even more energy, and her heart felt as though it would explode as their movements became faster, and faster, and faster, until...

The Doctor cried out as he released himself into her, causing his hot liquid to spread throughout her lower abdomen. Mere seconds later, Fred screamed as her orgasm overpowered her, causing her inner walls to tighten around him, trigger another release from him and fill her belly. For what felt like eternity, there was only her and him, Fred and the Doctor, floating and then falling in ecstasy before they fell asleep...


	10. Getting Help

Getting Help

**"Doctor?"** Fred asked sleepily.

"Hmm?" he mumbled by way of a reply.

"D'you think we'd better get dressed and get in gear?" she questioned tentatively. "It's just that we still have to catch the Master and make sure he doesn't do anything that could endanger either himself or everyone on the planet."

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, let's..."

After reluctantly separating their bodies from one another, they began to get into their respective routine outfits. But the Doctor's cobalt blue shirt, as well as Fred's scarlet blouse, had been ruined in the hunt for the Master – to solve this issue they donned an azure shirt and a violet blouse, respectively, as replacements. When they were finished, they eyed one another's clothing.

"Well...how do I look?" asked Fred hopefully.

"Absolutely ravishing," replied the Doctor grinning – _I've heard him say that before,_ thought Fred's inner voice nostalgically. "And me?"

"The definition of 'Sexy Science Geek,'" she replied eloquently. "What now?"

"We need to get help – the Master's too far away for me to sense him," he answered grimly, setting off for the console room with Fred in tow. "So I'm gonna get help from the only person we can be sure will help us – Wilfred Mott."

"But won't that be running the risk of stirring up Donna's memories?" her voice rose in panic as she asked. The Doctor had explained Donna's metacrisis issue to her – about how Donna had taken part of the Doctor's mind into her own, and how it had nearly killed her and forced him to wipe every trace of himself from her memory.

"Which is precisely why I shouldn't go in there," he confirmed. "But _you_ can, Fred. Just don't let her see the TARDIS. Ask Wilf if he's seen anything strange. Ask him for help as well – he's the only one we can rely on, love."

_You'd better go and get the handbag from the closet – it has something you might need to use at some point, Fred,_ her inner voice told her warningly.

"Got it, Doctor," she registered calmly. "I just to get something – I'll be right back..."

*DW*

**"Events** are moving, Wilfred," stated the image of the woman from the church. "Faster than we thought."

_What the?_ Wilf thought confused. He tried to draw Sylvia, Donna and Shaun's attention to the TV screen, but they either couldn't see it or deliberately chose to ignore it. The former hypothesis was confirmed by the Woman's next words.

"Only you can see," she said. "Only you and Frederica stand at the heart of coincidence."

"Why? Why us?" Wilf asked worriedly.

"You're an old soldier, Sir," the Woman continued, "only you were too late – the war was won and passed you by."

"I did my duty!" Wilf replied with the faintest outrage in his voice – _the war in Palestine was hell, a hell I had to witness and soldier through!_ He thought forcefully.

"But you never killed a man?" asked the Woman.

"N-no, that's true, I-I didn't," he stuttered, before strength came back to his voice, "but don't say that like it's shameful!"

"The time will come when you must take arms," the Woman told him finally. "Tell the Doctor nothing of this – his life could still be saved, so long as you tell him _nothing._ But if it should appear that all hope will be lost, then turn to Frederica, and tell her this – in her pocket lies the one who could stand with her Doctor triumphant."

The image faded, to be replaced once again by the broadcast of the Queen's Speech. Thinking over what just happened, Wilf headed upstairs to his room and reached under the bed for the box containing his revolver. A moment later, he heard a wheezing groan, akin to an engine, the signature of the Doctor's arrival. He headed outside to greet him.

*DW*

**Fred** exited the TARDIS to find Wilfred Mott walking towards her. She rushed over and began to talk in hushed whispers.

"Wilf," she explained hurriedly, "we lost him – the Master got nabbed and he's too far away for the Doctor to find him. We need your help."

"But the Doctor can't park there – what if Donna sees it?" Wilf protested.

At this, Fred headed back to the TARDIS, leaned her head in and called; "Doctor, you might wanna land this someplace else!" To which came the reply; "Got it!"

The TARDIS's engine began to sound, and for one terrifying moment Wilf thought it might grab Donna's attention. But no sign or sound came from the house and the TARDIS was now located in a nearby alleyway instead.

Fred turned back to Wilf and asked; "Now, has anything strange happened? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well," replied Wilf, "Donna sorta went strange over the Naismith book she got me for this Christmas."

"Could you show me?"

"Sure."

The pair then headed inside the house to search for _Fighting the Future_ – a book written by billionaire Joshua Naismith. While Wilf searched for the book, Fred decided to make small talk with the family.

"How's my favourite goddaughter?" she called out. This evidently got their attention as Donna entered the hall and called back wryly; "I'm your only goddaughter, Auntie Fred! Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, Merry Christmas, Donna," Fred smiled. She then said somewhere between sheepishly and jokingly; "I'm sorry in advance, by the way – I left the present at home, but I may be able to give a great bear hug, so come here and let Auntie Fred give it to you!" She gestured with open arms, to which Donna obliged and returned the bear hug with enthusiasm.

"Fred!" called Sylvia's voice. "We weren't expecting you until later!"

"Well, I had to change my schedule a little – more about that later," replied Fred. "Now, how's the lucky guy?"

"Oh, he's just fine," answered Shaun Temple's voice from the living room. "Merry Christmas, Miss Shepherd!"

"Oi! None of that!" she called back mock-sternly. "If Donna can call me Auntie Fred, so can you!"

"Got it, Auntie Fred!" called Shaun.

"Glad we got that sorted," whispered Fred to the others. "Donna, I just need a quick quiet word with your mum, is that OK?"

"Sure," replied Donna. "I'll give you some talking space."

"Cheers," Fred thanked her, before turning to her mother – Fred's best friend since University. She began speaking in hushed whispers. "Sylvia, I have to tell you something – and I need you to bear with me and promise you won't freak out."

"O-K," answered Sylvia uncertainly, wondering where the conversation was going.

"You remember Harold Saxon, yes?" Fred asked. "Along with my not trusting him?"

"How could we forget? You were adamant about that," chuckled Sylvia. "What about him?"

"Well, it turns out that his name isn't Harold Saxon," Fred told her – at which point her eyes went wide – but this was nothing compared to what Fred told her next; "He is also an alien from another world."

"What?!" Sylvia whispered-cried.

"That's not all – he's one of the bad ones, and his actual name is the Master," Fred finished darkly. "I've got a feeling that he'd planning something that will endanger Donna. The Doctor (and yes, I know him a bit better – in fact, he's my boyfriend...kind of)," – Sylvia's eyes went wide as this – "the Doctor is doing all he can to stop him, but we need Wilf's help to do it. I can't explain how, but somehow your dad's connected to all this." There was a long pause when Fred finished. "Well?"

"Take care of him," said Sylvia stoically. "And look after the Doctor too – if Donna still had her memory she'd kill you if anything happened to either of them."

"Somehow I get the feeling we'll all be looking out for one another," said Fred wryly. "We'll see you when it's all over. Now we have to go."

"Good luck," Sylvia choked with worry.

*DW*

**With** those words, and a call of "Found it!" from outside, Fred headed with Wilf back to the TARDIS. When they got inside, Wilf was evidently gobsmacked – he seemed to only just be registering the fact that the Timeship was bigger on the inside.

When he asked why they couldn't go back to yesterday and catch the Master then, the Doctor launched into near-unintelligible technobabble which made absolutely no sense to him. When the TARDIS materialised, it was parked in a barn located in close proximity to the Naismith Mansion.

"You wait here," the Doctor ordered.

"Not bloody likely," Wilf replied defiantly.

"Don't swear," the Doctor mock-scolded him. "Hold on," he said, stopping to point his key at the TARDIS – at which it disappeared. "Just a second out of sync – we can't have the Master knowing where the TARDIS is."

With that, the Oncoming Storm, the Old Soldier and the Child of Time set out on their adventure to stop the Madman, none of them truly knowing the role they would play in the fate of the Universe.


	11. The Immortality Gate

The Immortality Gate

**The** Doctor, Fred and Wilf began their reconnaissance of the Naismith Mansion. Mr Naismith evidently preferred a secluded life and did not take kindly to trespassers – as they quickly discovered when they had to pull back to elude a pair of guards.

"That book...says he's a billionaire," explained Wilf, gasping for breath at having to perform such quick movements – he really wasn't made for this anymore, "he's got his own Private Army."

"There must be another way in," muttered the Doctor impatiently.

Fred caught sight of a small wooden door in the archway. "Look!" she whispered, pointing it out.

"A-ha!" the Doctor cried. "Come on then, you two." He walked to the door, pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the lock and activated it. At once, the door unlocked itself. The Doctor headed in, the other two following close behind.

*DW*

**After** a long series of corridors and at least fifteen minutes of not being detected, they found themselves in the basement with a woman in a labcoat wearing a badge with the name Addams.

"Hey there," said the Doctor, "don't call Security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. And I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place."

"I'm sorry," said Addams, "but what's a – _Shimmer?"_

"Shimmer," the Doctor said simply, extending the Sonic Screwdriver, pointing it at Addams and activating it.

Instantly, her appearance morphed into that of a green-skinned, spiky alien. Fred was taken aback at this, and evidently so was Wilf, if his next words were anything to go off of.

"My Lord," he cried shockingly, "she's a Cactus!"

The green-skinned alien just sneered and rolled her eyes, but the Doctor was no longer paying attention. He was busy examining the equipment when a man in a labcoat entered the basement.

"What's going on in here?" he demanded. Looking at the Doctor he added, "Who are you?"

The Doctor just pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at him and drawled, _"Shimmer!"_

Like Addams, he too morphed into a green-skinned alien.

"Now, what's the Master doing up there?" the Doctor questioned. "Come on, the Master? Harold Saxon? Skeletor, whatever you call him? What's _he_ doing up _there?"_

*DW*

**It** took a while to get an answer out of the aliens.

"What are you, by the way?" asked the Doctor. "Cos I met someone like you, except _he_ was little and red," he added, remembering Bannakaffalatta from the _Titanic_ Starcruiser.

_"No,_ that's a _Zocci,"_ Addams sighed in exasperation.

"We're not Zocci, we're _Vinvocci,_ completely different!" snapped the other alien.

"And we're a salvage team," added Addams, "as soon as the device is repaired we'll transport it to the Ship."

"But what does it do?" asked Fred curiously.

"Well, it mends – it's as simple as that," said the Vinvocci Aide. "It's a medical device to repair the body."

"Nah, it's gotta be something more," the Doctor frowned. "The Master's too grandiose for that."

"So that's a sickbed, yeah?" asked Wilfred, deciding to contribute to the conversation.

"More or less," replied Addams.

"Well, pardon me for askin', but why is it so _big?"_ questioned Wilf.

"Good point," nodded Fred, "because somehow, I don't think an advanced civilisation like the Vinvocci would build a limited medical device that would only mend one person at any given time."

"Well, aren't you the clever one," quipped the Vinvocci Aide.

"Lucky guess," supplied Fred, shrugging.

"But she's right – it mends whole _planets,"_ finished Addams.

"What?" the Doctor said blankly.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population," explained Addams.

"But if it can do _that-"_ began the Doctor worriedly.

"-the Master could modify it to rewrite the biology of _every_ Human on Earth!" exclaimed Fred in panic.

With that, the Doctor bolted for the main room, with Fred and Wilf lagging behind.

*DW*

After another whole series of winding corridors, the Doctor and Fred burst into the main room, where the Master was being restrained.

"Stop!" the Doctor shouted.

"Guards!" cried the Butler, at which every Guard in the room pointed their rifles at the pair of them.

"No, wait!" the Doctor shouted, holding his hands out to show they were empty, Fred doing the same. "Just don't let _him_ near that device!"

"Oh, like _that_ was _ever_ gonna happen," the Master mocked, before breaking free of his restraints and leaping into the energy field of the Immortality Gate. At once, the drumbeat began to ring out in Fred's mind. The Master turned to face the Doctor.

_"Homeless,_ was I?" he sneered. _"Destitute_ and _dying, _was I? Well _look at me now!"_ he gestured with widespread arms.

"Turn off that device, all of you!" called the Doctor to the Mansion Inhabitants. But Naismith was unable to reply – he shook his head frowning, as if something was giving him a headache. Everyone else was doing the same thing, even the Reporter on TV.

"Get out of there!" shouted the Doctor, rushing forwards, but the Master merely fired an energy bolt at him, knocking him to the floor.

Fred then tried pushing him out of the Gate, but she was thrown back by a searing bolt of life energy to the chest.

"FRED!" cried the Doctor in fear, rushing towards her. "Fred, can you hear me?!"

"Doctor," she whimpered, gesturing to her head, "I can hear them...I can hear the drums...oh God, they hurt!" she cried out in pain.

"Welcome to my world!" called the Master pitilessly.

"Doctor!" called Wilf, who had just entered the room. The Doctor rushed over to him, as he was now having trouble standing up. "He's...in my head!"

The Doctor rushed over to the Control Unit to deactivate the Gate with the Sonic Screwdriver, but without any inkling of success.

"I can't turn it off!"

"That's cos I locked it, _idiot!"_ the Master spat.

The Doctor realised that he couldn't stop this, so he resolved to put Wilf and Fred inside the Nuclear Maintenance Cabinet. But there was only room for one in each cubicle, and judging from Vinvocci design, only one cubicle could be active at any one time.

"Get Wilf inside the Cabinet!" Fred cried. "I'll be fine!"

"But-" the Doctor protested.

"_Don't argue,_ Doctor!" she snapped irritably. "Just do it!"

The Doctor reluctantly complied, grabbing Wilf by the arm, marching to the Cabinet, opening the door and pressing the button required to open the other door. Wilf then entered the other cubicle and the Doctor altered the radiation shielding level.

"Oh! He's gone! I can see again!" he cried in relief.

"Good, now press that button there!" replied the Doctor.

"What?!"

"I can't get out until you press that button there!"

Wilf did as instructed and pressed it, releasing the Doctor from his cubicle.

"Fifty seconds, and counting!" announced the Master. "You're gonna _love this!"_

Fred's mobile began to ring. She ignored the pain the drums were inflicting upon her, reached for her phone and answered it. It was Sylvia.

"Sylvia?!" cried Fred. "What's happening?"

"Fred," gasped Sylvia, "I can see him...Harold Saxon...I can see his face..."

"What about Donna?!" Fred called.

"I can't see, Fred!" cried Sylvia. "The dreams were real...they were all real!"

Fred hung up, knowing she couldn't get anymore out of her friend. So she turned her attention back to the Master. But the Doctor had beaten her to the next line.

"Stop this! STOP IT NOW!" the Doctor screamed.

"Is that the best you can do? _Really,_ I mean, _begging?"_ the Master sneered. "I'm not about to stop now! You see, the entire Human Race is gonna become _me!_ And," he spread his arms before yelling, "ZERO!"


	12. The Master Race

The Master Race

**A** wave of energy engulfed the entire planet. Every Human's head began to jerk from side to side rapidly as their biology was rewritten. Across the whole of the Earth, each Human was becoming a facsimile of the Master...

*DW*

**"DOCTOR!"** cried Wilf from the cubicle. "She's starting to remember!"

Fred knew at once that Wilf was talking about Donna's memories of the Doctor. Panic flared inside her, to be replaced by boiling rage – _this monster would cause Donna to die!_ Fred screamed in her mind. All of a sudden, the drums faded from a parading march to thuds that were only just audible.

"WHAT IS IT?!" Wilf shouted at the Master. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU MONSTER?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" the Master called back mockingly.

Master Clones rose up to their feet at Original-Master's words, all repeating the same thing.

"Or to me?" said Naismith-Master.

"Or to me?" said Abigail-Master.

"Or to me?" said the Butler-Master.

"Or to us?" said the Soldier-Masters, lifting the visors of their helmets.

"Breaking news!" called the Reporter-Master on the TV. The Doctor and Fred turned their attention to the screen. "I'm everyone...and everyone one in the world...is me!"

*DW*

**"I'm** President!" cried the President-Master. "President of the United States!"

Around him, Master Clones began applauding and cheering him on.

"Oh, oh, Financial Solution," the President-Master rubbed his head, before throwing his hands to the side. "Deleted!"

*DW*

**"The** Human Race was always _your_ favourite, Doctor," said Original-Master in mock-contemplation. "But now, there _is_ no Human Race...there is only..." he threw his hands outwards in gesture, "...the Master Race!"

With those words, the Master burst into maniacal laughter, his clones copying him. All around the Earth, the Master was laughing, at himself, at his enemies, at fate itself.

Fred, Wilf and the Doctor could only look on in horror at their failure to stop him, with only one distraction – the question as to how Fred survived the biological override...

*DW*

**_And_**_ so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the Human Race did cease to exist...but even the Master knew not of his true role in these events, for this was far more than Humanity's End...this was the day upon which the whole of Creation would change forever..._

*DW*

**"...this** was the day the Time Lords returned," said the President with gravitas and power. "For Gallifrey!"

_"For Gallifrey!"_ replied the High Council in unison.

"FOR VICTORY!"

_"FOR VICTORY!"_

"FOR THE END...OF TIME...ITSELF!"

_"FOR THE END...OF TIME...ITSELF!"_

*END*


End file.
